Are "Lady Doritos" coming to a store near you?

You may have seen posts with the hashtag #LadyDoritos floating
through your social media feed this week as people reacted to a remark made by PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi last
week. In a January 31 podcast interview with the "Freakonomics
Radio" program, the executive told the interviewer that women
didn't consume snacks like Doritos in the same way as men. "They
don't like to crunch too loudly in public," she said. "And they
don't lick their fingers generously, and they don't like to pour
the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth."

When asked whether this meant that male and female-branded
snacks were in development, Nooyi responded with an answer that
caused an uproar: "It's not a male and female as much
as, 'Are there snacks for women that can be designed and packaged
differently?' And yes, we are looking at it, and we're getting
ready to launch a bunch of them soon." She went on to indicate that
snacks geared toward women would be quieter, and packages would be
sized to fit more easily into purses, because "women love to
carry a snack in their purse."

Once the word got out, negative reactions began to pour in
swiftly. Women ridiculed the concept that they were expected to eat
quietly and wouldn't want to eat the crumbs out of the bottom of
the Doritos bag because they were too messy. Most of the
posts poked fun at the idea with humorous examples of what a "lady
snack" might look like.

Soon, PepsiCo was in full retreat mode,
saying that it was all a misunderstanding. "The reporting on a
specific Doritos product for female consumers is inaccurate," the
company said in a statement. "We already have Doritos for women -
they're called Doritos, and they're enjoyed by millions of people
every day." They didn't refute the idea completely, however, saying
that "At the same time, we know needs and preferences continue to
evolve, and we're always looking for new ways to engage and delight
our consumers." We'll have to see what that looks like, but it
probably will not include the word "lady" in it.